Jormungandr
by stephenopolos
Summary: Xander hated himself for choosing this option, but what's a twelve year old to do when faced with the choice between embarrassment in front of his best buds and going with dad on an archaeology dig. Of course his summer vacation couldn't be simple, and he finds himself on an adventure.
1. 1-01: Jormungandr

Alexander Harris frowned as he looked out the window from the plane that was taking them away from Sunnydale for the summer. His father accepted a job at a dig site in Colorado, and his mother saw it as her chance to have the house to herself, working both of them over until both Harris males agreed to go.

Xander once stumbled across some of his dad's old research, he'd found them packed away in boxes in the basement, bundles of research papers detailing the unconventional ideas his father held about certain aspects of ancient history. Ideas that had been co-authored by someone named, Daniel Jackson. When he asked his mother about them she carefully took the papers from him and returned them to the box telling him, "Xander don't ever ask your father about these, his theories... I loved him for them, but ultimately they destroyed his career." Xander while he couldn't have seen the advisors giving Anthony strange looks, right before they walked him out the door, he knew the results as his father slipped further into alcoholism and depression.

Anthony Harris had been a broken man when he'd returned to Sunnydale and gotten caught up with Jessica, her getting pregnant and his refusing to let her be a single mother, had both played a large part in his decline, and that decline led to his drunken verbal abuse of his wife and son.

The previous week was a strange one for Xander, as he was known by his two best friends. Starting with a call for his father from an old classmate, not that Xander was aware of the call at that time. His father may have had unconventional ideas, but he was no slouch when it came to getting his hands dirty with the actual field work, and that was what led to the call. Xander knew his dad had been an archaeologist, but the surprise came from finding his parents sober and approaching something close to happiness.

~ Jormungandr ~

Tony Harris picked up the phone and answered, "Yeah?"

"Is this Anthony Harris?" came a voice from the other end that Tony tried to place.

"Uh huh," Tony answered, his brow furrowed as he tried to place the voice on the other end.

"Tony, this is Robert. Robert Rothman?" Robert said.

"Bob?" Tony said, fighting the residual alcohol in his system. "It's been forever, man."

"Yeah, it's been a while. It took forever to track your number down," Robert said.

"I didn't want to be tracked down Bob," Tony said, his clenched fist was pressed against the countertop, as he grimaced at the pounding from the lingering hangover.

"Yeah, and I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry," Robert replied.

Tony snorted, "I take it you didn't call just to catch up on old times?"

"Not in the least. Hey, listen, Tony. I've been given run of a previously unknown cliff dwelling in Colorado. That storm they had a few months back broke part of the cliff loose and exposed the site."

"So, why the hell are you calling me?" Tony said grabbing a glass that looked relatively clean and filling it with water from the tap.

Robert sighed before answering, "Unfortunately my normal crew is split seven different ways at various sites outside the country. I know you Harris, you know your stuff and won't stand for any profiteering nonsense. That, and I need to get this dig started, or they'll give it to Rayner."

Tony did a spit take suddenly glad he'd decided on water instead of his usual, "Why the hell would they give it to that prat, I thought his specialty was Egyptology."

"It is, but, the man's main interest has always been money and credit," Robert said. This fit with Tony's memory of the man as a suckup and somewhat greedy little troll, not to mention the reason he'd been discredited over that little idea he'd been tossing back and forth with the younger undergrad student Daniel Jackson.

Tony sat down heavily in a kitchen chair and sighed, "God dammit, Bob."

"So, you're in?" Robert said, the phone connection doing nothing to hide the smug undertone in his voice.

"Let me talk to Jessica, my wife," Tony said.

"I can give you a few days, let me give you my number," Robert said, some of the smug undertone had dropped at the mention of a Missus Harris.

Of course, when he mentioned the dig to Jessica later that morning, she noticed he was sober without it being a special occasion or him having just woken up. That and there was a fire in his eyes, he looked like a man who'd been given a purpose in life again. Jessica, found it incredibly enticing.

~ Jormungandr ~

Alexander grimaced at the memory of the sounds he'd heard coming from his parents' bedroom when he got home from school that day, he hadn't stayed long enough to find out what was up, hightailing it to Willow's where she started laughed and wouldn't tell him why she found it so funny, though she did calm down after he got mad and threatened to leave.

It would be later that evening when he returned home before the sun set that he discovered the change his parents had undergone.

"Alex, is that you?" Jessica called from the kitchen hearing the door open.

"Yeah mom," Xander called back.

"Set the table would you," Jessica said. "we're going to have dinner as a family tonight."

Xander did as he was told in shocked silence, trying to figure out what the occasion was, as the only time they even tried to remotely act familial was on holidays, and that always ended with him grabbing a sleeping bag and climbing out his bedroom window onto the roof. He worried that night was going to be the same, but there wasn't a bottle of alcohol in sight, so he would withhold judgement on that front until after dinner.

The kitchen was another startling scene as Jessica, his mother, she-that-never-cooks, was cooking something.

Jessica cast her gaze on her son as he went about the chore she'd assigned him, a glint forming in her eye as an idea formed.

Xander knew his father had once been a promising archaeologist given the rants Tony made sometimes when he was drunk. The the news that Anthony Harris had been offered a position on a newly discovered dig wasn't that surprising—and went a long way towards explaining the general good mood.

Later that evening, as snippets of whispered conversation between the Anthony and Jessica made their way to his ears.

"He's twelve," Tony said.

"He'll have fun," Jessica said.

"School doesn't end until next week, and Bob wants me on a plane there by thursday," Tony said.

"He's twelve, he can handle a flight..." Jessica said.

"It's a moot point until we find out if he even wants to go," Tony said.

And there it was, the reason he was on a plane headed away from his best friends Jesse and Willow. Xander had protested, loudly and at great length, the unexpected and undesired change in his plans. But in the end, it wasn't like he had much choice anyway, his mother had threatened that if he stayed he'd be forced to do various girly things with her, shopping trips, and so on.

To make matters worse, she'd become intensely interested in his relationship with his best bud Willow, offering and then insisting that she shop with them, guaranteeing that his suffering wouldn't go unseen. Jessica's face had lit up, as she described the planned shopping trips and various pamperings, she would insist upon should he stay.

' _No use having second thoughts now,'_ he thought to himself. Though he wondered if they could be considered _second_ thoughts if it was way past the second time he'd reconsidered his decision to go.

One of the flight attendants leaned over to ask him if he needed anything, and he felt the blood rush to his cheeks, as her blouse revealed a bit more than it probably should.

The same flight attended stuck with him when he transferred planes in denver getting on a smaller plane that would take him to one of the smaller cities near the archeological site where his dad would meet him, by that time it would be fairly late so they planned on staying the night there, before taking yet another plane this time a small charter flight to a private airport owned by a nature conservation authority.

~Jormungandr~

They spent the morning in town getting all the supplies he would need for the hike. Alexander adjusted the pack, and following his dad out on the trail. He wouldn't admit it but he was starting to enjoy himself. The site was far enough away from the main road that the archeologists decided to set up tents instead of trying to make the hike back to their cars and the long drive along the trail to get to the nearest city, each day.

Every now and then Tony would stop and point something out along the trail. Different plants or landmarks that would help if he wandered too far. They followed the trail down towards a river with towering cliffs on either side the cliffs were broken up by portions that led off into the distance gently sloping upwards.

It was faster for them to rappel down the side of the cliff here where the cliff had been mapped by the professionals and deemed safe enough for beginners than it would've been to go around and follow one of the slopes down into the canyon. Tony double checked the ropes and harnesses, before showing him the path along the newly opened fissure into the campsite.

"There seem to be sigils carved into the stone in several places," Xander overheard one of the archeologists exclaim into a handheld recorder animatedly.

"Welcome back Tony," a man with dark hair and an average height called out, from a screen tent where he was coordinating the efforts of the team. "And this must be Alexander, I'm Robert Rothman."

Xander frowned at the use of his first name, but didn't protest as Robert spotted the expression and corrected himself.

"Do you prefer Alex or Alexander?" Robert asked.

"Xander, please," Xander said. Robert raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure there's a story behind that," Robert said from behind his stereotypical archaeologist glasses.

"Why do I have to babysit the newbie," a voice was heard from outside the tent.

Xander's face reddened.

"The story will have to wait, while I take care of that. That's my son Ryan, he's thirteen. If you'll excuse me," Robert said to Xander apologetically.

A moment later, Robert came back with a lanky teen with short blond hair following him.

Ryan managed to look both annoyed and embarrassed.

"Sorry," Ryan said to Xander in a whisper.

"Wasn't my idea to be here either," Xander whispered back.

Ryan gave him a look.

"It was either girly things with mom, or looking at rocks with dad. And those girly things would involve my mom embarrassing me in front of my friend Willow."

Ryan winced, "Man, that is not cool. Sorry about earlier." This time he meant it.

"So what are we supposed to do for fun for the next four weeks?" Xander asked.

"There's rock climbing, and hiking obviously, I brought fishing gear when I heard the site was next to a river," Ryan said. "Oh, and I've been trying to convince mom to take me kayaking or rafting. Either that or skiing. We're in Colorado, for cryin' out loud. Some of the best rivers and ski slopes in the US."

Xander tried to carry a conversation with Ryan but the older teen made his lack of interest obvious. So he gave it up for a loss and wandered around the camp trying to be unobtrusive as possible.

"And who is this wandering into my work?" A rich baritone called out from behind Xander.

"Don't do that!" He said with a jump.

The voice chuckled as Xander turned around, "I won't insult you by asking, 'do what?' young man. Now, don't tell me, I have a feeling that you are the young Mr. Alexander Harris."

The thin man before him was not what he expected from the voice.

"Ah, I've been told that I missed my calling as a voice actor," the man said noting the expression on his face. "Balinsky, Dr. David Balinsky. Call me David, please."

Xander nodded and gave his nickname.

"Now, if you could just take a few steps to your left—thank you," David said. "I'm here for the rocks you know, and I mean that literally. I'm an assistant professor of geology at Colorado State."

He chuckled at Xander's wide eyed stare.

"I hope you'll keep us in mind for your future education plans." Dave said, placing a hand on Xander's shoulder. "And now that the marketing department back home is satisfied; see the slight discoloration in the rock pattern there?"

"The part without plants?" Xander asked.

"Exactly, Xander, the rains washed through here a few months back and caused a landslide. Most of the time this would bury things we'd rather remain unburied. In our fortunate case, the slide actually helped us by partially uncovering this native american settlement," Dr. Balinsky said.

Despite himself, Xander spent the rest of the afternoon tagging along with Dr. Balinsky as the professor freely shared his knowledge with the twelve year old.

~Jormungandr~

The next morning, Xander woke with the sun, to find most of the scientists had already been awake for a while. Including his dad.

"Good morning Alex," Tony said with from behind a mug of coffee.

Xander grumbled and rubbed his face. "It is way too early to be that cheerful."

"Ryan said something about rock climbing later in the day," Tony advised.

"I'll see him after I get some cereal," Xander said.


	2. 02: Raynor's Raiders

Xander frowned at the cold cereal in his bowl, letting his shoulders fall into a practiced slouch as he grabbed his spoon. He propped his head up with his other hand and began to eat.

He didn't acknowledge Ryan, when the teen slid onto the bench opposite him, and began discussing the plans for the day.

"Xander, are you listening?" Ryan folded his arms.

"Huh?" Xander said, looking up from the few cheerios floating in his bowl.

"Hiking! Rock climbing! Whitewater rafting! Doing anything that doesn't involve hanging around here, while they," Ryan pointed over a shoulder, "go gaga over the rocks. Not that I have a problem with rocks, mind. I'm just more interested in the artifact type rocks, of course, and i'm happy enough to observe those once they've been uncovered."

Xander shrugged, he could understand Ryan's sentiment. Looking at the same clump of rock, or half uncovered brick building, held very little appeal to the young almost thirteen-year-old.

"I wouldn't mind getting some more rock climbing in," Xander shrugged.

"Alright!" Ryan cheered. "I'll get my gear ready."

Xander, spoon halfway to his mouth, blinked at the sudden empty spot where Ryan had been sitting.

~ Jormungandr ~

It was a much more awake Xander that left the dig site with Ryan later that day, as the older teen led them down the path away from the dig, and into the canyon.

The two of them tripple checked each other's equipment, Ryan having insisted on the safety precautions before allowing them to even approach the cliff face.

"I'm not kidding Xander," Ryan said. "I had a friend who shattered his legs last year, if he'd double checked his harness like he was supposed to it never would've happened."

"Fine," Xander grumbled, but let it go and followed the older boy's instructions.

"Right, remember to use your chalk pouch any time your hands start feeling sweaty. We're going to one of the paths I mapped out when we got here a few weeks ago, so just follow me."

Xander shrugged and grabbed for the hand hold Ryan pointed out.

Xander tired much quicker than Ryan, and used the rope to rappel to the base of the cliff where he started flexing his hands. The climb had been surprisingly fun, tiring, but fun. But now he was sore all over and had aches in muscles he could swore he didn't know he had.

"Keep moving Xander or you'll get stiff," Ryan called from near the top of the cliff.

"I'm already stiff!" Xander yelled back to Ryan's laughter.

"Welcome to the Rothman bootcamp, cadet, we'll get you whipped into shape in no time!" Ryan yelled back as he started back down.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Xander replied.

"Aww, come on x-man, besides just think of the expression on Willow's face when you get back and she hugs you and feels all those muscles," Ryan teased.

Xander blushed and remained silent the rest of Ryan's journey down.

"Let's head back for Dinner," Ryan said as he noted the sun was almost beginning to set, gracefully ignoring the red tinge on the other boy's face.

Xander groaned as his muscles protested the movement.

~ Jormungandr ~

The next few days Xander slowly adjusted to the camp schedule finding himself waking up earlier each day regardless of his own feelings on the matter. His time was filled as Ryan dragged him along on whatever morning activity the older boy had planned.

Ryan confessed to him later on, that since Xander's arrival, he was getting to do a lot of his summer goals accomplished. Which, normally, he would've had to wait until one of the more active outdoor types among the scientists were free to go with. Not that he needed a babysitter mind, but it was safer to have someone else along, be prepared and all that.

The days flew by and before he knew it he'd been there a week. He wasn't a slouch when it came to exercise, Jesse and Willow, well between the three of them, they'd never be fat but, they weren't jocks either. Now, though, all that rock climbing he'd been doing was starting to show, not that he'd noticed.

It was saturday and the two boys were working their way along an unexplored section of the cliff. Xander had taken lead on this one while Ryan belayed.

"Xander," Ryan called out pointing past him.

"I see it," Xander yelled back. He reached for the hand hold, leaning into the cliff as he stretched, his fingertips barely taking hold, out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw someone standing on the opposing side of the canyon, before he felt something shift under his feet. "Shit."

"Xander!" Ryan yelled as the younger boy lost his footing, the older teen braced himself for the pull of the rope against the protections.

The lead rope tightened with a snap, and Xander cried out in pain as his shoulder and side slammed into the rock three feet below his protection.

Xander winced as he moved to pull himself back towards the previous hold. "Descending," He called out making his way back towards the ground.

Xander looked up to the cliff where he'd seen the man before he lost his hold on the cliff and frowned.

"What is it," Ryan asked, as he noticed the frown and looked in that direction himself.

"I thought I saw someone before I lost my footing," Xander said.

Ryan frowned, "there's no one there now, let's head back to camp.

Xander's legs felt unsteady from the close call and Ryan was shaken himself so the two called it quits for the day and headed back to camp where Xander let himself get poked and prodded by one of the scientists with medical training.

"Ah!" Xander hissed, "Stop that."

"I need to see the extent of the bruise, young man," Dr. Melissa Coombs said, as she smeared a foul smelling cream over the bruise. "You're lucky you didn't break anything."

Later that evening Xander pulled Ryan aside, "Did anyone follow us from camp yesterday?"

"Everyone's been busy enough here that none of them should have free time to follow us," Ryan said.

Xander crossed his arms in frustration, "And, I'm telling you, I saw someone standing at the top of the cliff on the far side of canyon."

"There shouldn't be anyone else out here but us and the scientists," Ryan started but changed tactics at Xander's expression, "I'm not saying you didn't see someone, do you remember what they were wearing?"

"It was right before I lost my footing, but they looked like they were wearing a camo pattern," Xander replied.

Ryan's eyes narrowed, "Keep an eye out, I'm going to let dad know someone was snooping around."

~ Jormungandr ~

Xander was less than enthusiastic about further outings that week as he gingerly massaged the salve into the bruise each night. Not that he'd ever admit to Jesse or Willow that he was enjoying learning, but, with all the scientists at the camp, there was little else to keep him busy, except to listen to them lecture about this or that observation.

There was also the occasional rare exclamation of a new discovery. Which he very quickly learned to ignore unless he wanted his ears talked off. He'd made the mistake of asking the anthropologists, and received a lecture on the typical pottery found in this area, and how rare the intact jars and pots they'd found were.

In spite of all the effort he was putting into keeping himself busy. There was a restless feeling creeping up the back of his spine; he kept getting the feeling that someone was watching him, and the prickling of the hair on the back of his neck only served to reinforce the feeling of unease in his gut. There was just something that felt off about the dig site, a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he'd learned to trust long ago. As much as the feeling in his gut made him want to crawl inside himself and hide, the lack of any one individual thing to justify his paranoia was the only thing holding him back from embracing his fight or flight instinct.

As the fourth day of his medically enforced grounding dawned, he was far to jumpy to be of any use just sitting there at camp listening to the geeks talk about their rocks. He was a bundle of nerves; and everyone, including Ryan were looking at him like he was a land mine waiting to explode. As he seemed to flinch at every noise.

About mid-day, Ryan had enough of his jumpiness, and pulled him away from the camp with a set of fishing poles and a tackle box.

They sat in the folding chairs Ryan made Xander lug out to the edge of the river, their lines cast into the river with the little red and white bobbers floating in the current.

"So, want to tell me what's wrong," Ryan asked, breaking the awkward silence they'd fallen into after casting their lines into the water.

"No," Xander replied.

Ryan shrugged, as he turned his head back towards the water, and the rhythmic bob of the red and white attached to his fishing line.

After a few minutes had passed Xander spoke up, "I—I've just been—I don't know. On edge?"

"Yeah, I've noticed," Ryan teased, pushing the other boy on the shoulder.

Xander returned the shove good naturedly.

"That's not all though, I keep feeling like someone's watching us, and it sets off all sorts of flashy lights and alarm bells in my head."

Ryan raised his eyebrows at the description.

"Do you feel like we're being watched right now?" he asked.

Xander shook his head, "it faded away the further we got from camp."

Ryan made a noise of contemplation as he narrowed his eyes at the bobbed.

After a few moments of silence, Xander felt the hair on the back of his neck beginning rise. He nudged Ryan and began looking around.

Ryan grunted in acknowledgement and Xander pointed to the left. At the top of the cliff about thirty feet away was an animal staring at them, a long pink tongue hanging out of its mouth as it panted lazily. As if noticing their attention on it the animal gave what could be described as a bark of laughter before rolling onto its back and wriggling around. It stood up looking at them before turning and trotting away.

"Weird," Ryan muttered under his breath.

"Yeah," Xander agreed.

"Let's clean up and head back," Ryan said, as he moved forward to pack up the tacklebox.

~ Jormungandr ~

The two boys were even more spooked the closer they got to the camp.

"You hear something?" Xander asked.

Ryan stopped suddenly, motioning for Xander to do the same, he tilted his head to the side and stood completely still for a moment.

"What—?" Xander started only for Ryan to shush him again.

They stood there silently for what Xander felt must've been five minutes, and he was about to say something when Ryan started moving again.

"It's quiet, too quiet," said Ryan. "Come on, we'll stay above the ravine and check it out with my binoculars."

Xander followed the other boy as he abruptly changed direction and went down a fork in the path that took them up a hill and out of the canyon, after a time the path wound its way around the rocky slope until they stood at the top of the cliff looking over into the camp at the dig site.

Ryan pointed at a spot that had been covered the day before. There was a stone adobe with carvings in the walls that gave Xander an ominous feeling. He passed the binoculars to Xander.

"Look over there," Ryan said.

Xander looked where he was pointing.

"To the left of the artifacts tent?" he asked.

"And right above that," Ryan confirmed.

Xander held the binoculars up and adjusted them until he could see.

"There's tire tracks, recent ones, and it looks like someone broke one of those ceramic jars. You remember, the ones the anthro-scientists were all excited about," Xander said. "Here, take a look."

Ryan accepted the binoculars and looked out over the dig site again.

"Rodger is gonna be ticked," said Ryan, "That jar was priceless."

"Speaking of, where is everyone?" Xander asked.

The call of a bird echoed through the canyon. Ryan and Xander looked up at the sky to see if they could identify the source.

"The spirits have been disturbed," a deep voice startled the two boys. "Hold, younglings, and do not enter the camp."

The two turned towards the voice.

"Don't do that," Xander said.

Ryan shot a glance towards Xander and then back at the man, "What did you do? And, who are you?"

"Do what? I am Atian, and I did nothing," Atian replied. "Look, and watch."

Xander and Ryan turned back towards dig site, and watched as another ATV roared into the camp, carrying two men dressed in desert camouflage.

"They aren't part of our crew," Ryan hissed.

"Then who are they?" Xander asked.

"They are with the ones who broke the seal of Atse-hashke," Atian said, "the spirits will deal with them."

As the two watched, a haze of mist formed around the two men below, and though the two made an attempt to be alert, they soon nodded off. When the mist had done its job, it thinned, and the two teens watched as four gorgeous women approached the ATV and proceeded to bind the men and carry them away.

"The mist of slumber will dissipate in another hour, and then you may return to the camp," Atian said, once the scene had played out.

"And, what then? What about our people," Ryan demanded.

"The seal of Atsehashke was broken, for balance to be restored, you must seek out the unnatural cave within the canyon to the north. Within the cavern, you will find a an emblem emblazoned with the image of the thunderbird. You must bring the amulet back to your camp and perform the rite of renewal, The skinwalkers will not have use for your people for fourteen sunrises. Hold until the mist has dissipated, then gather your things quickly and seek out the cavern of the trickster. I will perform my own rituals to petition the return of your people."


	3. 03: raiding the raiders

"What are we going to do?" Xander asked Ryan for what must've been the fiftieth time.

"Whatever needs doing, that's what," Ryan replied. Xander stared as the other boy seemed to consider something for a moment before tucking what looked like a sharpened wooden stick into his belt. "Focus, Xander."

"Right, mister focus, that's me, focusing, yes," Xander said.

Ryan shook his head and said, "Catch," as he tossed the supplies pack he was holding to the other boy.

"Um, Ryan," Xander said, interrupting the other boy's rummaging through the gear in the camp. "The ATV is still at the edge of the campsite, should we do something about it?"

Ryan slapped a hand to his head, "Damn, I knew I'd forgotten something. Xander, grab the tent, would you?"

Xander shouldered the pack he already had and accepted the strap on the bag holding the tent. "I'm not your pack mule," he muttered.

Ryan shouldered his own pack and replied, "Aww, but you make such a nice imitation of one."

"Fine," Xander said slinging the strap over his free shoulder, when he spotted something. "Hey, Ryan."

"What's up?" Ryan asked.

"Is that?" Xander said pointing at something.

Ryan looked where the other boy had pointed seeing the same thing.

"Looks like it," Ryan replied. "If it hooks up to the four-wheeler then we've just increased the amount of supplies we can take with us."

Xander nodded in agreement, "Let's drop our stuff at the four-wheeler and come back for the trailer.

The sun had long since touched the horizon, by the time they had unloaded the equipment from the trailer, hitched it to their vehicle and then reloaded it with their own things.

The campsite seemed unnaturally quiet now, without the sounds they'd come to associate with archaeologists too caught up in history to put down their work and go to sleep.

"It's too quiet," Xander whispered. In the silence that had descended with the setting sun, even his whispered comment seemed too loud.

"Let's get out of here, I don't want to drive the four-wheeler at night but, I don't think we'd get any sleep if we tried here."

They drove the four-wheeler up the canyon until the feeling passed before stopping to set up the tent.

Xander lay staring up at the darkness of the tent, he had finally relaxed to a point where he felt he might be able to fall asleep when Ryan's whisper brought him out of own thoughts.

"Did you get a good look of the two men before the mist obscured them?"

Xander shrugged before realizing that the motion wouldn't be obvious in the dimly lit tent. "They were wearing camouflage and tactical vests. I didn't see their faces, but remember the day I hurt my shoulder when my hold slipped? I think I saw one of them on the other side of the ravine."

"I think I've seen them before that, though. One of them seemed really familiar hanging around one of the archaeologists my dad knows," Ryan said.

"You think, you've seen them before?" Xander said.

"Yeah, I do."

The two lay there for a moment.

"We're going to solve this right?" Xander broke the silence.

"Yeah, X-man, we're going to solve this," Ryan said. "We should get some sleep, we've got a long morning looking for a cave ahead of us. Good night, Xander."

"Night, Ryan," Xander replied, still staring at the canvas overhead.

~ Jormungandr ~

Ryan stopped the four-wheeler and let out a strangled scream of frustration.

After calming down a bit and catching his breath, he said, "this isn't working."

It was the fifth day of their exodus into the canyon searching for the trickster's cave.

"Five days. We've been out here for almost a week Xander, there are no caves, no hidden alcoves, not a sign of anything," Ryan paced like a caged animal. "This is it man, if we don't find this stupid cave," Ryan trailed off in silent frustration. He slumped forward on the four-wheeler staring off into the distance, they had fuel canisters with they'd brought with them to keep the all-terrain vehicle going, but their fuel was nearing the halfway point where they would have just enough to make it back to the main camp.

Xander leaned forward to lay a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "We can do this, it has to be here somewhere," He stopped to take a breath only to cough a little. "Dude you stink."

"Yeah," Ryan said. "Well so do you."

The two of them broke down into a fit of laughter for a moment.

"Let's stop here," Xander said. "There's a spot over there that should be good for camp, and the river feeds a natural backwater that looks to be clear over there."

"Are you saying I should take a bath?"

Xander gave him a look.

"Fine, you need one as well though," Ryan muttered.

Xander put his nose next to his arm and sniffed.

"Yeah, we're both pretty rank," Xander agreed.

Ryan started laughing again.

"Let's set up camp then."

~ Jormungandr ~

They explored the area for a few hours once they had everything unpacked. Six days was more than enough to make the two boys sick enough of the other's constant presence that they both needed some time alone.

They felt a little bad about using their sixth day to rest and just have fun in the little pool they'd discovered, but as the seventh day dawned, their quest didn't seem quite as hopeless as it had the previous day.

The seventh day dawned, just like the previous six, the boys started the morning in the pattern they'd developed, cleaning up their campsite and repacking the Mule ATV.

It was Xander's turn to cook breakfast. Ryan having shown him all the tools and supplies the previous day. Xander felt like today was a good day for omelettes, he cursed the lack of mushrooms as he inventoried his available ingredients. At least there was cheese, he thought with a grin. A good omelette has to have some cheese.

Xander's cheap spiderman watch showed the time as ten in the morning, as they eased the two seater ATV up the trail next to the winding river.

The barking howl of a coyote echoed through the canyon sending a chill down their spines, and the boys were instantly alert.

"What's that?" Xander said pointing out a glint of metal hanging from the edge of the cliff to their left.

Ryan brought the vehicle to a stop and killed the engine, his stomach gurgled a little.

"I don't know, Xander. But let's check it out," Ryan said.

The two worked efficiently to stow the mule and their supplies in the shadow of the cliff. Xander worked quickly to locate the climbing equipment in the supplies, passing Ryan's harness to the other teen.

His arm twinged in remembrance of the damage done the week prior, the bruised flesh still an unhealthy dark shade beneath the thin cloth of his sleeve.

Ryan stepped back to view the cliff face in whole, if they wanted to get to the top he'd need a decent plan, identifying all the potential holds, and the problem areas that could prove tricky.

Ryan absentmindedly massaged his gut, his stomach gurgling, and he wondered what was in Xander's omelettes that morning.

Xander joined him a moment later, harness in place.

"What's the plan?" Xander asked.

Ryan pointed to a long fissure running diagonally about half the way up the face.

"I should be able to get an anchor or three into that. The ledge above it should be steady enough for me to scale over to the smaller fissure about a three feet above it, where I can get another anchor in," Ryan said.

"What about that ledge there," Xander said pointing to the left of the fissure.

"It might be a good spot for another anchor but there aren't any good holds above it," Ryan replied.

Xander nodded in understanding, "Alright."

Ryan finished explaining the plan.

~Jormungandr~

At the top of the cliff they found two old army tents covered with a camouflage net. There was another mule parked under one of the tents that held a few items for servicing the vehicle. Xander noticed the red of the plastic gasoline containers.

"Something's not right with this, there's nobody here," Ryan said, motioning around the campsite.

"We can resupply the mule at least," Xander said.

The two entered the second tent which was setup like a command center with a partition behind which was a cot.

Ryan pointed out the satellite phone and was about to say something when they heard noise like the mule from outside the tent.

"Spoke too soon," Xander muttered under his breath.

Ryan made a hand motion shushing the other boy, and dragged him behind the partition.

The two boys tensed as a man pulled aside the tent flap, the bright sunlight from outside temporarily outshining the lanterns within. Beside him was a pitbull that was sniffing around the tent.

The man went over to the table and grabbed the satellite phone.

Ryan made a face as the dog drew closer, and the two boys looked at each other. Several expressions crossed Ryan's face until he hit upon resignation, his hand held to his stomach. He mouthed the words, "lactose intolerance."

Xander's hand went to his nose, and his eyes watered as he fought back the urge to cough.

The dog backed away from the partition where the boys were hiding, with a low whimper.

"Damn, what have you been eating, Spike," the man said with a disgusted tone, "that smells ripe. Go sit outside."

The man tied the dog to a post outside and then pulled the tent flaps open, tying them back to let the tent air out, before returning to the phone.

"Come on," he muttered tapping the desk waiting for his call to connect.

Behind the partition, Xander and Ryan were signing furiously at each other.

Ryan wanted to see if they could lift the tent fabric in the back and slip out, Xander wanted to stay put and listen, both instantly dropped their silent conversation as the man in the other side of the tent started speaking.

"Yes, sir. No there hasn't been any sign of the other two teams, sir," the man said, pausing for a moment as he listened.

"I just got back from inspecting the site sir, there were signs of a broken artifact," he winced, and even the two boys hiding behind the partition could hear the yell from the other side of the phone.

"Mr. Raynor, sir," the man started only to be cut off by the indistinguishable yelling on the other end of the line.

"Of course, sir, I'll send out a team to scrub our campsites," the man said, ending the call.

There was a noise as the man stood up from the desk and walked over to the partition, flinging it aside he looked around the room suspiciously. Seeing nothing, he shook his head and walked back over to the desk where he packed a few items into a courier bag and disassembled the satellite phone, taking both the bag and phone out of the tent.

Underneath the two cots closest to the partition, Ryan and Xander lifted the blankets trailing over the edge to look at each other.

Once they heard the sound of the engine fading into the distance they relaxed the hold they'd had on their breath rolling out from under the cots and standing stiffly.

"Dude, lactose intolerance? Any other food allergies I should know about?" Xander asked.

Ryan looked annoyed, "yeah, lactose intolerance, and no, I don't have any other food allergies."

"A little warning would've been nice, but it got the dog off our backs," Xander said.

Ryan shrugged, and then asked, "What do you think of that call?"

"Sounds like someone was trying to discredit our dads," Xander said.

"Well, i'm suddenly feeling a great deal better about raiding this camp for supplies," Ryan said.

"Agreed," Xander said. "There's at least three full containers of gasoline in the other tent we can replace with the empty ones we've got with our mule."

"And I think I saw a cold storage box somewhere that should keep for another day or so."

Ryan nodded, "Alright, i'll dig through the files still in the tent to see if that guy left anything for us, we've got a name from the conversation, but it won't be enough to do more than to create some suspicion, since we didn't actually hear the person on the other end of the line well enough to identify them," Ryan said.

An hour later Ryan left the command tent, his backpack just a few papers heavier.

"Ready?" Ryan asked.

Xander pointed at the supplies.

"I've got a pulley to lower this stuff down, we can replace this stuff with our empty containers which should keep them from noticing what we've taken," Xander replied.

Ryan nodded and moved forward to help Xander with the resupply.

~Jormungandr~

As the two stopped for the night some distance away from the camp they'd raided, Ryan setup a table and called Xander over.

"We got a lucky break," Ryan motioned at the map and a notebook.

"Show me," Xander said.

Ryan traced a finger along a blue line on the map, "This is the river," he stopped and tapped a spot in the middle, "I've been keeping an eye out all day as we drove, this here should be where we are now, since there was that sharp bend in the river about an hour ago, unless i'm mistaken. So, this," he moved his hand and tapped another spot, "according to the notebook is a possible cave entrance that they marked for further investigation."

"How far?" Xander asked.

"We should be close, maybe tomorrow evening?" Ryan said.


	4. 04: Trickster's Hall

Xander heaved himself onto the ledge. From the ground below the opening of the cave was barely visible; the rock curved around the opening, which blended into the surrounding cliffside, and a rock formation jutted out away from the cliff in a relatively small platform.

The inside of the cave was brighter than he expected, a warm orange glow in a twisting pattern of light filtered into the cave through mineral veins in the walls and ceiling.

"This cave can't be natural," Ryan said from behind him.

"Yeah?" Xander said.

"Yes, these formations look like Ulexite or Quartz, but I've never seen Ulexite formations like this, it's like the Ulexite is embedded into orange Onyx. Doctor Balinsky would love to see this," Ryan replied. The other boy shed the climbing harness and his pack.

Xander followed a vein of light up the wall of the cave to the ceiling. "Check out the ceiling, it looks like the night sky," Xander said.

Ryan gave a hum of agreement.

"Is that it?" Xander asked pointing to a carved stone totem in the center of the cave placed so the light the largest formation of clear stone in the ceiling fell directly on it.

"I'm not so sure," Ryan said. "The weird guy said to look for the emblem of the Thunderbird, but I don't see how we could possibly move this."

"Should we try?" Xander asked reaching out.

"Don't," Ryan called out, but it was too late. As Xander's hands touched the totem, he found it wasn't as solid as it appeared, the statue rotated quite easily away from the opening they'd entered through.

"What," Xander asked frozen in place.

"You just reached out and touched the random totem in the weird cave, what if it would've been trapped?" Ryan said.

Xander's hands yanked back from the statue, as though he'd suddenly discovered it was hot to the touch.

Ryan leaned forward to examine the figure, coincidentally looking directly into the hollow eyes.

The wall behind them silently slid away to reveal a set of stairs leading deeper underground, while at the same time sealing the entrance to the cavern, as it reached the end of its journey the stone began to scrape against the floor of the cavern in a rough grinding noise that drew their attention.

"Crap," Ryan said.

"Well, isn't this great," Xander muttered.

Ryan ran to the rapidly shrinking opening to the outside, Xander following closely on his heels, the two strained their muscles in a futile effort to hold the few remaining inches.

The boys backed up a bit and looked around the room.

"That wasn't there before," Xander said, pointing at the newly opened passageway.

Ryan shared a look with the other boy before shrugging.

"Shall we?" Ryan asked.

"Well, if we must, we must," Xander said.

Ryan reached over and shoved Xander's shoulder.

"Weirdo," Ryan said.

"Airhead," Xander said.

"Nerd," Ryan said.

"Jock," Xander said.

"You take that back," Ryan exclaimed.

"What, Jock?" Xander asked, "fine, you're not a jock, but only because you haven't been overbearing about your sports."

"That's better, and you're not a nerd, you have social skills," Ryan said.

Ryan motioned towards the passageway again.

"The day isn't getting younger," he said.

"Let's go," Xander said.

The passage curved to the right in a gentle downward slope, until the entrance cavern was no longer visible. After what felt like several minutes' worth of walking, the two came upon a great stone carving in relief. The image was of a great coyote sitting up and facing straight at them. Behind the coyote there were three other animals, a snake, a spider, and a raven.

Ryan leaned forward to examine the carving.

"This is a door not a wall," Ryan said after a moment. "But I don't see the mechanism to open it."

"Could it be like the statue thingy, back at the entrance?" Xander asked.

Ryan turned away from the carving and looked Xander in the eyes.

"I don't know, we can give it a try? Which way do you think," he said, with a shrug.

"No idea. Right first?" Xander said.

The two pushed against the carving.

"I think I felt something," Ryan said.

"I didn't," Xander said.

"It could be lunch related," Ryan said.

Both boys stopped straining against the stone which wasn't moving and took a step back. Xander gave the other teen a look.

"Right, so, that's totally not the way in. So, tell me what's the deal with those gems in the eyes," Xander said.

"I've no idea, giant frickin' laser beams?" Ryan said.

Xander went silent.

"You don't think," Ryan started.

"Lasers are too big though, and expensive man," Xander said.

"We don't need a laser though, just need to shed some light on to the situation," Ryan said.

Ryan pulled a flashlight out of his bag. The two winced when he switched it on not realizing how dim the cave had become with the indirect light filtering through the strange ulexite formations.

"Shall we," Ryan asked.

Xander shrugged.

Ryan held the flashlight up to the eyes of the coyote, and the light seemed to reflect off the back, somehow brighter. When Ryan stepped back and moved the flashlight away, the eyes of the coyote were still alight from within.

"Maybe we should try pushing on it now," Xander said reaching out the place his hands on the stone.

When his fingers touched, the stone started to slide without a noise. It retracted away from them about an inch and then slid slowly to the left.

"Okay then," Xander said.

Ryan stared at him.

"What?" Xander asked.

"First the totem-statue thing, and now the door?" Ryan said.

"How should I know," Xander said.

Ryan shrugged.

~ Jormungandr ~

The two boys stepped into the hall beyond the stone door. The hall was empty save a pedestal at the far end on which there was a stone bowl.

Behind them the stone door slid back into place smoothly and without noise.

"Ryan, the door," Xander said. There was a tone of panic in his voice.

"Then the way forward is clear," Ryan said. His voice was low, and he sounded as though he was quoting something.

Xander grabbed Ryan's hand, and the two took a step forward towards the far end of the hall. There was a low rumble and the floor shook beneath them causing them to stumble against each other, when the shaking stopped, they looked to see the path towards the other side had narrowed to a bridge barely big enough for a single person to walk upon. On either side of the path was a drop into a deep chasm.

Ryan dug in his pack and found some gravel they'd inadvertently picked up on the journey. He carefully stretched over the chasm and opened his hand. The gravel fell into the chasm, the plink of the impact against distant walls below echoing back up to them.

"Okay then," Ryan said, "this is no different than standing on the edge of a cliff with a nice harness."

"Right, no different at all," Xander said.

"We can do this," Ryan said putting a hand on Xander's shoulder.

"We aren't going to have much of a choice but to do this," Xander said, his eyes going towards the suddenly noisy wall that was now coming towards them with the sound of stone grinding against stone.

"Harness," Ryan said.

Xander quickly went through the check on Ryan's harness as the other boy did the same.

"Rope?" Xander asked.

"Not that it would do much good," Ryan said. "But sure, at the very least we can fall off opposite sides of this narrow path and climb back up using each other as counterweights."

"Right, that's exactly what we'll do," Xander said.

Ryan led the way out onto the narrow bridge. Xander inched forward behind him. Slowly they made their way to the halfway point of the bridge.

Behind them the wall met the edge of the chasm and the ground rolled beneath them again. Xander lost his footing and stumbled, arms wind milling as he tried to reacquire his balance.

"Ryan," he yelled.

"Left, or right?" Ryan yelled back, himself barely holding his own balance, he spared a glance under his arm to check preparing to dive to the opposite direction.

The other boy gave a startled yell as he lost his balance, and Ryan dove hoping the rope would hold.

~ Jormungandr ~

Xander blinked from his position on the floor staring up at the suddenly very sturdy hall, with no evidence there had ever been a narrow bridge or vast chasm.

"Ryan?" he said.

"Yeah," Ryan said.

"I'm pretty sure we should be falling right now, why aren't we falling?" Xander said.

"Good question," Ryan said rolling over and gingerly massaging where his shoulder hit the floor. "I've no idea."

Xander rolled over and got to his knees, his arms shaking from the adrenaline, feeling like his legs would give at any moment, he stood, and slowly made his way over to Ryan.

"Any idea what that was all about," Xander said.

"I've got the sinking feeling that it was someone's idea of a test," Ryan said.

Xander sat down next to the other boy.

~ Jormungandr ~

The two leaned against each other taking deep breaths and working to calm their nerves.

"Okay. So, that happened," Xander said.

"Yeah," Ryan said.

"You'll forgive me if I say that I never want to have another adventure again," Xander said.

"And, I'm never going to complain about being bored either," Ryan said.

"We should," Xander started.

"Yeah, we should," Ryan said.

"I'll just," Xander said.

"Yeah," Ryan said. "We'll just get up and walk over there."

"Yeah, right after my legs stop being rubber," Xander said.

"Agreed," Ryan said.

~ Jormungandr ~

Alternate Path Files:

The two blinked in shock at the bright white room they entered. The door slid shut behind them without a noise. In the center of the room, on a round plinth there was a white and black gauntlet. The two walked over to the plinth and stared at it in confusion.

"What do you suppose that is?" Ryan asked.

"No clue man, looks cool though," Xander said. "You should try it on."

Ryan grinned and carefully picked up the gauntlet.

"Well, here goes nothing," Ryan slipped his hand into the gauntlet which lit up with blue and orange light running in an alternating pattern around the edge.

The moment the gauntlet cleared the plinth a white glow shrouded the surface, a visible beam of light sweeping over it.

Ryan was absorbed with examining the gauntlet on his own arm, but Xander looked back and forth between the plinth and the gauntlet.

"Look," Xander said calling Ryan's attention away from the gauntlet and back to the plinth.

From within the glow over the plinth, a second gauntlet was taking shape. When Xander reached out a hand in curiosity he found his hand stopped at the edge of the plinth by something.

The two watched the light play over the plinth in wonder, until it faded leaving an almost identical gauntlet.

"This one is all you," Ryan said.

Xander reached out hesitantly again, this time his fingers met no resistance as he took the gauntlet in his hands. When he slipped his hand into the gauntlet, it lit up with green and red.

"What now?" Xander said.

The plinth sunk into the floor and a screen dropped from the ceiling. In simplified pictograms, it showed a blocky figure pointing a more detailed image of a gauntlet similar to the ones both of them now wore.

The image was animated as the figure pointed the gauntlet and a ball of blue shot out, impacting the wall. The figure then pointed the gun at another wall and a ball of orange shot out.

The figure then ran at the wall where the blue hit and appeared out the orange.

The animation changed showing the figure falling through an infinite loop as it shot a portal at the floor and ceiling before falling in.

The animation changed again, and again, each time showing a things they should be aware of.


	5. 05: Dreams

"Hey, Ryan," Xander said, the two were shakily walking towards the end of the hall.

"What's up?" Ryan said.

"Just to quickly recap, you know."

"Go on."

"We've travelled all this way out to a secret cavern."

"Yeah."

"Got past that totem thing in the entrance cave."

Ryan hummed an affirmation of the statement.

"Unlocked the second door, to find the bridge of doom while the wall started to move, only to fall in the middle and somehow survive."

"And?"

"And," Xander repeated. "And unless there's another hidden door, all we have left is the disturbingly innocuous bowl on a pedestal."

"Yeah?"

"What gives, dude, I mean, what's up with the random test of courage and tricky doors?"

"Dude?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me, I'm right here with you on this."

"Yeah, it's just, it all feels like some sort of test type thing ya know? Like, I don't know, maybe some kind of sadistic test of character," Xander shrugged.

The two shuffled their feet, making the final step forwards, a cone of light from above highlighting the bowl in front of them.

At the cardinal points of the bowl there were four animals, one at each point, a raven, snake, spider, and coyote. The carvings if not for their size were incredibly lifelike. The bowl was a dull grey metal, with a seemingly random pattern of straight lines scored deeply into the outer surface.

"So, here we are," Ryan said.

"Yes, here we are, is this like some sort of ancient meeting place for tricksters?" Xander said.

Ryan shrugged, "who knows."

Xander gently reached forward and ran a finger across the head of the snake, the cool touch of the metal against his finger reassuring him. He gently touched a finger to the fang of the snake. Only to blink in surprise as the fang pierced his skin without him feeling it. A single drop of blood clinging to the fang as he removed his hand from the bowl and stuck the injured finger in his mouth.

Ryan smacked the other boy on the shoulder.

"Xander! Seriously man, why do you keep touching things!" Ryan said.

"What, it looked cool, and you were touching just as much as I was," Xander said.

Ryan grumbled, removing his hand from the coyote on the opposite side of the bowl from the snake.

"Bro, look," Xander said pointing to where his blood was pooling at the tip of the stone fang.

The blood pooled at the point until the surface tension broke and gravity pulled the droplet into the bowl. It landed in a groove and slid into the center of the bowl. There was a flash of light, that when their vision cleared the bowl was empty.

When the two turned around, the once empty hall behind them was now filled with shelves and piles of stuff.

"Great, now where is this symbol thingy," Xander said, looking around the room.

"Don't look at me," Ryan said.

"You take that side, and I'll take this one?" Xander said.

Ryan shrugged, and wandered off down the indicated aisle.

All around the hall lay an astounding collection of artifacts, but the piece that caught his eye, was lying on its side with a crack running through the seal.

It was a white ceramic jar, with a series of Norse runes embossed in a silver metal down the front. There was some sort of fluid pooling on the ground around it, and a light steam was rising as the liquid evaporated.

Xander gingerly lifted jar and tore away the remains of the seal to open it and peer inside, he jerked reflexively as it looked like something moved within, though he knew that should be impossible as the jar had to be ancient.

Twisting about so the recessed lights from in the ceiling shown into the jar. He blinked, tilting the jar, and tapping on it as he thought he there was something moving inside, blinking he decided it was just a trick of the light. He figured it was probably just whatever remained of the liquid that had spilled onto the floor. He brought the jar to his nose and took a whiff, stumbling as the scent of the vapor overwhelmed him for a moment.

He looked up from the jar, dizziness pulling at him, the light from the ceiling seemed almost too bright to stand now. He leaned against a shelf, sinking into a sitting position. He opened his mouth to call out for Ryan and then blacked out.

A moment later, Xander groggily opened his eyes and pushed himself to his feet. He looked around the room suspiciously, and rubbed the back of his head which he'd been resting on one of the shelves.

He gave the ceramic jar a dirty look and warily picked it up again—holding it at arm's length. Cautiously, he peered into the depths of the jar again shaking his head when he saw that it was now mostly empty, the bottom of a basin of grey metal looked dry and was lined with golden and silvery tracings of something that resembled circuitry.

Xander carefully set the ceramic jar down with a frown. For some reason, something in the back of his mind felt a mild distaste to the jar in his hands. He got the feeling that anything placed within wouldn't feel the effects of the passing of time.

Looking around, he took in the variety of artifacts on the shelves, and drew in a deep breath. Throughout the room, were a wide variety of different artistic and cultural styles. However, there were also items dispersed in-between the more normal looking ones that were clearly alien to him. At about eye level shoulder height on the shelf directly in front of him, there was an oddly shaped opaline stone that looked like it should just about fit the palm of his hand.

He found himself picking up the stone, and gazing deeply into the blue depths speckled with gold and silver. He went to set the stone back on the ledge where he'd picked it up, and wandered down the aisle, but found himself holding it again, like he was supposed to take it with him. Shrugging he slipped the stone into his pocket and moved on to the next shelf.

He ran his hands over the artifacts pausing every now and then. There was an oddly shaped serpentine looking one that seemed to fit into his hand instinctively. It had a dull brown-grey metal and engraved lines segmenting the device at seemingly random intervals. Absentmindedly this also made its way into his backpack.

"Xander, I think if found it!" Ryan said, walking back into the main aisle way in the middle of the room. "You okay, you look a little pale."

He was holding a disc about ten inches in diameter and half an inch thick with a detailed image cast in relief on the surface. A jagged pattern of lightning served as the backdrop.

"Just a little dizzy," Xander said, suddenly sneezing.

"Gross," Ryan said.

Xander sneezed again. "Must be the dust in here," said Xander.

"Here," Ryan said, taking his backpack off and digging for a while before pulling out a wad of paper napkins.

"So, how do we get out of here," Xander said, as he gratefully accepted the napkins.

Ryan shrugged turning to look back the way they'd entered. As though something sensed their intent, there was a grinding sound and a section of the wall slid away, revealing the sloping ramp they'd taken on the way down.

Ryan turned towards Xander. "I'm guessing the same way we came in?" said Ryan.

"Anything else we should grab while we're here?" said Xander.

"I don't know," said Ryan, "I don't think so."

Ryan carefully picked up the disk with the image of the thunderbird they'd come here for and carefully packed it away in his backpack.

"Ready," Xander said.

"Lay on, MacDuff," Ryan said.

"Who's Leon MacDuff?" Xander said walking towards the opening. As they stepped into the sloping tunnel, there was a flash of light behind them and the hall was empty once more.

~ Jormungandr ~

At the main chamber, the exit to the outside was still sealed by the stone slab, which was a good thing in a way considering the tunnel they used would've been covered, trapping them in the hall below if it had shifted. The lighting from the ulexite was a little dimmer indicating just how long they'd been in the hall.

"Now what?" Xander said.

Ryan pointed at the totem, and shrugged.

"If it moved for you once, then will it move again?" said Ryan.

Xander looked at it for a moment, then back at Ryan.

"It's worth a try, I guess," said Xander.

The two walked over to the totem and started to push, ever so slowly, the stone totem shifted and began to rotate. Behind them the segment of wall that sealed the exit slowly slid back to cover the passage to the hall below. With the final crack of stone against stone as the door sealed the passageway, the two looked up to see the orange light of the evening sun against the cliff filtering in through the opening.

"Alright," said Xander rushing over to check on their climbing gear that was still on the ledge outside.

~ Jormungandr ~

The two examined their vehicle which was exactly as they'd left it, and repacked the climbing tools. Without having to stop and check the canyon walls for the cave, they made good time on the way back.

"Now what?" Xander said.

"Now, we find a good spot to camp for the night as it's getting late, I'm hoping we can make it back to that swimming hole we found the other day."

"Then what?"

Ryan looked over at the other teen. "Then you stop asking questions and just go with the flow."

"Alright, alright, I'll shut up," Xander said.

The rest of the drive was mostly silent, as the two rode until finally, with only an hour of daylight left, Xander spotted the campsite they'd used just a day or so previously. With practiced efficiency the two unpacked the tent and struck camp for the night, eating a light dinner before they passed out in their sleeping bags from exhaustion.

Xander found himself standing in a marble temple, in an outfit that was far too skimpy. Between the marble columns he could see a few mountains in the distance. He turned and looked around noticing the temple was on a cliff, and he could see a vast body of water stretching off into the distance. He walked into the temple, blushing at the detailed work on one of the goddesses carved from the white stone.

A servant approached him offering a cup of something which he took and drank, a moment later the scene of the temple faded replaced with a city of towering silvery spires stretching from one end of a valley to another. There was a woman standing in front of a control panel covered with symbols and curving lines. She looked up at him and said something that his brain had trouble understanding, but evidently his dream self didn't as he found himself taking the lady's hand, without thinking, the word, "Sigyn," left his lips. And then a moment later he felt Ryan shaking him awake by the shoulder.


	6. 06: Wakinyan

The two quietly went about the business of preparing their morning meal. "Supplies are getting low," Xander commented, looking over the items in the flatbed.

"We could check and see if that camp is still up on the cliff," Ryan said. "But then we'd have to backtrack."

"And that guy should have it all packed up by now," Xander said.

"Right, that's out then," Ryan said.

"Maybe there's another one of those campsites along the way," Xander said.

"I doubt there will be. But, we can both keep an eye while driving back," Ryan said.

"Sure," Xander agreed, settling into the passenger seat and pulling his hat lower to block the morning sunlight.

The hum of the mule engine, and the hot sun overhead lulled him into a half awake state where he found himself thinking about how much had happened in the short time away from his two best friends, would Jesse and Willow even care about the same things when he got back?

Thinking of Willow made him feel warmer, his mind drawing a mental picture of her long red hair, and the slowly fading baby-fat. That time they'd been over at her house and she'd left her door slightly open when she was putting on a clean shirt because Jesse spilled ketchup and mustard all over the front of the one she'd been wearing. And he'd run up to check if she was done already.

Then there was that smirk she had even though she was yelling at him about knocking when she'd been the one that left her bedroom door open. How did he forget about that, and then he was back in the canyon, wide awake, and breathing heavily.

The walls of the canyon were passing them by at a steady clip now. Xander looked down at the map, surprised at how much distance they'd covered so far.

"Ah crap," Xander said, knocking his hat off in the process.

"What?" Ryan said, worried the other teen had seen something he'd missed or that they'd forgotten something.

"Nothing, nothing. Just had a moment," Xander muttered. "Wow, we're covering a lot of ground."

"Yeah, without having to stop at every potential cliff-side cave, we should be getting really close to camp," Ryan agreed.

There was a shift in the wind and a hint of moisture, that had a different scent to it than the river bed hit them. Ryan slowed the mule, searching the horizon.

"What's up," Xander asked looking around as well.

"Great, looks like there's a storm is coming in," Ryan said, kicking their vehicle into gear again and driving up one of the slopes that intersected the canyon where erosion had broken through the cliff. "If we hurry we can have the tent setup and tied down before the storm hits. We should try to get as far out of the canyon as we can in case the river overflows and floods." There was a crack of thunder in the distance, punctuating his statement. "Damn, and I was hoping we'd get a chance to catch a few fish tonight to supplement our rations," Ryan said, as he pulled items off the trailer bed and spread a tarp over what was left.

Xander had hopped down as soon as they stopped and was already clearing the ground for the tent.

~ Jormungandr ~

There wasn't really all that much to do inside the tent, besides lay there and listen to the sound of the rain, thinking about things. Thoughts racing through his head, Xander had wondered what his friends were doing and if their summer had been anywhere near as eventful as his own. Of course thinking about his friends meant he thought about the sleepovers at each other's houses and the little looks, hugs, and so on Willow had taken to recently whenever Jesse wasn't looking. His mind returning to the thoughts he'd had of his best friend from earlier in the day, until he couldn't ignore the obvious anymore.

"Ah crap," Xander said, unintentionally repeating his sentiment from earlier that day. They were bundled up in the tent several minutes after stopping and the ground was rapidly disappearing under a blanket of hailstones of varying size.

"What?" Ryan said, worried the other teen had seen something he'd missed or that they'd forgotten something.

"I just realized something."

"And?"

"Willow likes me."

"So?" Ryan wondered what brought this revelation to the fore, as based on the stories shared over the past two weeks he could already tell the two were close friends.

"No, you don't get it my bestest friend since like kindergarten, like, likes me," Xander said, there was a hint of panic in his tone.

"And again, I say, so?"

"So, she's been sending me all these significant looks and subtle touches on the arm for like a year and... And I didnt even notice!"

"And yet again, I say, so?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, do you like her?"

"Wait do you mean, like her? Or like, _like_ her?"

"Xand-man, it's okay to use the word love, and I think it's obvious that you love her."

"L-ove," Xander's voice cracked going a note off.

Ryan laughed, "Give it a year and it'll stop cracking like that."

"Great, I'll just not talk for a whole year," Xander muttered.

"Nah, that'll just make it take longer to finish changing. But, back to your question — what you need to figure out, is just what kind of love you feel. Just, be honest, but gentle with her, also be open to the possibility that your love for her could grow to more than just best friends. If you're set on not seeing her that way, then you never will," Ryan said."Or at least that's what those help articles in mom's sports magazines say."

"Sure, and I suppose you just read those for the articles," Xander said.

"Nah, they're almost as good as dad's Playboy's," Ryan said.

Xander shrugged noncommittally before realizing that Ryan was staring at the tent canvas just like him and wouldn't see the visual cue. "I guess, I just figured it was a matter over love and lust, and the overlap between the two was where romance happened," Xander said.

"How very sophisticated of you," Ryan muttered.

"You think?" Xander asked with a grin.

"Not really but you're probably closer to reality than that touchy feely stuff," Ryan said, shaking his head as he fiddled with the dynamo wind-up FM radio. "Doesn't look like we'll be having a fire to make dinner with, hope you're okay with the granola bars," Ryan said.

"Whatever," Xander said.

Sometime later that evening, Xander lay there listening to the sound of water flowing past their tent and was silently thankful for their decision to get out of the canyon before setting up camp.

~ Jormungandr ~

The storm broke sometime during the night leaving behind the wet ground and slight hint of ozone that usually follows a big storm. There was the noise of the gravel crunching underfoot outside the tent, and both boys froze in their morning routine to carefully peek through the canvas flap.

"It is good to see you have returned from the abode of the trickster unharmed," Atian said.

The two opened their tent to examine the native american man currently in blue jeans and a dark blue shirt, the laugh lines at the corners of his weathered face crinkled as he accepted their hospitality.

"And we might have returned sooner if we had better instructions, than go north," Ryan said.

"Peace, you are here and have the emblem," Atian said.

"What is it anyway?" Xander said.

"It is a way to commune with Wakinyan or the Thunderbird," Atian said. "It is told among the legends of the people, that many spirits have wandered our world over the years, leaving behind trinkets and items of power, such as the seal that directed Wakinyan's flight over the people."

"When the seal was broken at your campsite, the Wakinyan's path was altered. Wakinyan's flight has long been constrained by more than just the one seal, and the destruction of any of the seals regarding Wakinyan's path continue to have a variety of effects, both good and bad, on our world," Atian.

"So, it's a weather control device," Xander found himself saying.

"Such a crude term, but I suppose one could call it that," Atian said.

Outside the tent there was another crunch of gravel as the man from the campsite they'd raided came into view.

"A weather control device? How, interesting," the man said. He was holding a snub-nosed revolver in one gloved hand. "Gentlemen," the man said. "Here's the point at which you hand over this, weather device."

Atian stared silently at the man, while Xander and Ryan held up their hands.

"The device is in my bag," Ryan said.

"And where is your bag," the man said.

"Under the tarp," Ryan said pointing to the tarp covering their mule outside the tent.

The man slowly backed over to the vehicle still holding the gun pointed in the general direction of the tent and by feel untied the tarp with the other hand feeling around for the bag. He soon realized he would need both hands to retrieve the item and motioned with the gun, "you boy, come over here and get me this, item."

Xander and ryan shared a look, "Uh, which one of us?" Xander asked.

"I don't care," the man said. "Since you asked, you then."

Xander shrugged and slowly stood, walking over to the tarp he finished pulling it back, the man was splitting his attention between the tent and him but seemed more concerned with Atian and Ryan. Xander rummaged through their bags until he got to the one he'd been using in the cave.

"What's taking you so long," the man asked.

"Calm your tits, dude," Xander said his hand landing on a the cool metal of one of the items he'd packed away in the hall without thinking about it. "It's here, it just got buried.

The hand holding the gun lowered slightly as he turned away from the tent until he was no longer aiming at the others, and Xander's foot came up hard, knocking the gun from the man's hand. Ryan and Atian stood up, Ryan rushing towards them, as Xander tackled the man.

Xander grunted in pain as his shoulder hit the ground, rolling with the other man.

"Mort," Xander paused for a moment in the scuffle, "Can I call you, Mort? Nevermind, since you've been oh so kind in not providing us with your name, and it's not like I care what your name is after you held a gun to us. Anyway, Mort, old buddy old pal, I'm really not all that fond of people that point guns at me." As he pulled on the man's arms, he leveraged himself into a sitting position on the man's back.

"Mort" twitched struggling beneath Xander's relatively light mass, trying to roll and unseat the young man.

Atian reached him at this point choosing to assist Xander by sitting on the "Mort's" legs.

"Ah," Xander said in disapproval, "I don't think so, Mort. Ryan, get the rope from my bag would you, I think Mort here needs something restraining to ensure a more cooperative outlook."

Mort cursed under his breath struggling again, until he felt something cold and round poke his neck.

"See, Mort, it's so much better if you just cooperate with me," Xander said coldly.


	7. 07: The Return

"Doesn't look like the storm last night damaged anything," Ryan said, jumping down from the trailer, where he had been looking over the supplies as well as unpacking the rope.

"So, what are we going to do with him?" Xander shifted his weight so he could look over at the other teen.

"No idea," Ryan said.

'Mort' tensed as though he was going to try and roll underneath the two of them break their hold. Xander's finger reflexively pressed the trigger on the device he was holding against 'Mort's' neck and a crackle of blue energy spread out leaving a small burn mark on the man's neck from the proximity. Atian was already standing back at this point ready to defend the two teens from the other man if necessary.

"What the hell was that," Ryan said.

Xander shrugged, "something I picked up in the cave," Xander flourished the serpentine looking device, "Ouch, that looks like it'll sting when he wakes up," Xander said, examining the reddened skin where he'd been pressing the device.

"You what?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, I'm seriously wigged out about it, but some of the stuff just kept finding its way back into my hands after I put it back on the shelf so I figured that I was supposed to take it with me."

"Nevermind. What was with the whole," Ryan made a faux kick and pantomimed grabbing something. "Kung Fu X-man, thing, you just pulled."

"I don't know man, and I'm like, stronger too, and that nasty scrape that I picked up last week where my shoulder and knee slid along the rock is completely gone too," Xander said.

The two looked down as their prisoner twitched and another lingering line of blue energy played over the man's hand before grounding. Ryan carefully started securing the man with the rope until he was fairly certain the man would be unable to move his hands or feet.

"Is he okay," Xander asked.

Ryan reached over and felt for a pulse, "still breathing, and there's a strong pulse so he should be fine."

Xander's posture slouched, as he relaxed the tension he had been feeling over the possibility of hurting someone; even if he'd been threatening them.

"What do we do with him now?" Xander said. "We can't just leave him tied up out here."

"So, we'll just take him with us," Ryan shrugged.

"So, just drop him onto the trailer and go, then?" Xander said.

"That would appear to be the appropriate course of action," Atian said, his low voice startled the two as they remembered he'd been standing there the whole time. "Woah, there is no need to be so jumpy," Atian held his hands up as Xander pointed the odd device he'd used on 'Mort' at the native man.

"Sorry, I forgot you were there," Xander said, lowering his hand and tucking the device back into his bag in a smooth motion.

"I will help you place him onto your method of transport, yes?" Atian said.

"You get the arms, Xander get the legs," Ryan said, as he started to clear a spot for them to lay the man on the trailer.

~ Jormungandr ~

"So, where are we going?" Ryan said, throwing the final item, the bag holding their packed tent next to the still unconscious man.

"Not far," Atian replied. "There is another cave atop the hill near your excavation camp, I was there as part of my walk the day we met."

 _"... expect straight winds, of up to 110 miles per hour..."_ the radio crackled, the built in solar panel strip having recharged the battery while they broke camp.

"Back to the digsite then?" Xander asked.

"Turn that up," Atian said. Ryan fiddled with the volume for a moment and then set the radio back down only for the weather report to have finished.

 _"... Thanks Dave. You're joining Josh and Craig this morning with Ghost FM, and we have a caller with a request ..."_

"Shame we did not catch more of the forecast, Alexander. The changes to the weather patterns are accelerating," Atian said, climbing onto the trailer behind the vehicle.

"Accelerating? What do you mean, accelerating?" Ryan said, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the vehicle.

"Yes, accelerating. With the artifact rendered inert, the other devices are pulling the weather patterns out of alignment faster than I had anticipated. We must get the artifact you retrieved to the overlook where it can begin to arrest the changes," Atian said.

"Point the way, man," Ryan said, shifting into gear.

"Follow the slope up until we're above the canyon and then head towards the dig camp," Atian replied.

~ Jormungandr ~

As they approached the camp, the wind was picking up. It whipped through and over the gorge picking up rocks and debris. The tarp covering the trailer made snapping noises as the wind caught and pulled against the ties binding it down.

"How much further?" Xander shouted over the wind.

"The entrance should be just ahead," Atian shouted in reply.

"Our ride is starting to slide from the wind," Ryan yelled.

"Do you have the artifact, Xander?" Atian yelled.

Xander held up the metal disk.

"Good, when we get to the clearing, you must place the disk into the matching indentation in the diagram carved into the rock," Atian yelled.

"The wind is picking up again," Ryan yelled. "We won't be able to continue driving at this speed for much longer, the wind drag is slowing us down."

"Can we use the climbing gear to anchor us to the slope and proceed on foot?" Xander yelled back.

"It's worth a try," Ryan yelled back.

"That may very well be a more direct path to the clearing than driving," Atian replied.

Ryan pulled the vehicle between two large boulders and brought the vehicle to a stop. Climbing into the back and fighting against the wind to dig under the tarp, the three retrieved the climbing gear and set about strapping their harnesses together.

"What about Atian?" Xander asked, seeing they only had two harnesses.

Atian quirked an eyebrow waiting to see what solution the two would come up with.

"We can make a rope harness for him, and then tie it to ours," Ryan replied.

"A rope harness would be acceptable," Atian said.

Once the three of them were satisfied with their harnesses, Ryan set the first anchor in the side of the slope and started their ascent.

Xander felt the wind tugging at him, and pulling the sweat away from his brow before it could begin to form, despite the wind adding to the difficulty of the climb, he didn't feel like he was struggling near as much as he had the first climb. The scrapes and bruises from tackling the man he'd nicknamed Mort earlier felt like they were already fading away. He reached into his chalk bag dusting his fingers to dry up the sweat and reached for the next grip and pulled himself onward, there was the familiar burn of muscle being worked, and Xander found himself grinning in spite of the situation, he felt good.

"Watch out, the wind is stronger up here," Ryan called down to them from the top of the slope, the wind was picking up the loose gravel and throwing it at some speed that the other teen winced at the sting. Atian having relied primarily on the rope harness tethered to the two teens was the last to reach the top.

They kept the ropes and harnesses on as the wind was gusting directly against their desired path now, grey clouds where forming in the sky overhead but it was still light out.

"There! I can see the opening," Atian called pointing to a dark spot against the rock cleared of dirt and plants. The exposed stone was smooth, except for the patterns of lines and curves scored into the surface radiating away from the opening. The wind was pushing against them now with a steady force grabbing at their clothes and packs, a constant pulling force that they struggled with.

"Into the cave," Atian's rumbling voice carried through the static of the wind.

Xander curled his fingers into the groove carved into the ground and pulled himself forward. He winced as the rough surface scraped the skin of his knuckles. His eyes watered in the wind. He pulled himself into the opening stumbling for the lack of resistance from the ghostly fingers of the wind. Ryan set an anchor point for their rope, and tumbled into the opening behind him, the two turned around to check on their guide.

"I will be fine, Alexander, Ryan, place the artifact," Atian yelled over the wind whistling past the mouth of the cave.

Ryan fumbled with his pack removing a lantern which he then lit to give them some light to work with. Xander's fingers were still numb from the wind as he retrieved the item from his own pack; the disk with the relief carving of a thunderbird was warm to the touch warmer than the cave they stood in. The two boys gingerly crept forward, the light from the lantern illuminating the cavern around them.

Ryan spotted their goal first, "There, on the ledge."

Xander nodded and hurried over, carefully he slid the artifact into place with the distinct click of metal against stone.

For a moment it seemed like nothing happened, and then there was a flash of light around the edges, and what felt like a wave of pressure expanded out from the disk, flowing over and around them.

The sound of a soft clapping behind them startled both into turning around.

"You have both accomplished much, very well done," Atian said, the rope harness he'd been wearing, lying on the floor behind him.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked warily.

"You have completed the tasks, look outside, the winds are calming," Atian said motioning to the opening behind him.

"What about the excavation team?" Ryan said.

"And our dads?" Xander said.

"All will be well, they are being returned now, the man you captured will be taken in their stead," Atian said.

"And what about the artifact and you?" Xander asked.

Atian shrugged, "I will return to guarding it as I did before."

The two boys carefully approached the opening, the wind was gone now, and they could hear people in the camp below.

Xander turned around to ask something more shining the lantern back into the darkness, only to frown as he found the room behind them empty, except for carved stone statue of a coyote facing the opening, its mouth hanging open. He shivered and turned back to Ryan.

"Let's get the mule and get back to camp," Ryan said.

Xander gathered his pack and climbing harness in agreement.

~ Jormungandr ~

When the two returned to camp with their gear, it was as if the camp had no idea they'd ever been gone. The ordered chaos of the group, with the associated noise was welcome to the two but puzzling as they'd expected questions. But it seemed as though the entire digsite had no idea they'd been missing for over a week.

"Xander, Ryan!" Robert called out from the command tent, "It's good to see you both back, did you have a good camping trip?"

Xander and Ryan shared a silent conversation consisting of raised eyebrows, shrugs and a few hand gestures, before turning back to Ryan's dad.

"Nevermind. I see you both had plenty of time to figure things out," Mr. Rothman said with a smirk.

There was a shout from one of the buildings and it felt like the entire digsite rushed by them to see what had been uncovered, while the two boys sat there with the engine idling.

~ Jormungandr ~

They would discover later, that it turned out the storm the night before their return had uncovered even more of the structure revealing a series of stone statues carved in a style reminiscent of the Toltec as well as a few remarkably preserved pieces of ceramic pottery. The expansion to the excavation meant Anthony Harris had to stay a few weeks longer than expected of course, but Xander would be headed back on schedule as Anthony didn't want to monopolize all of Xander's summer.

So once again Xander found himself on the airplane this time headed home, and yet away from a friend. Sure they'd exchanged numbers and addresses, and considering the success of the site it looked like these trips might become a regular thing for Xander's dad so it wasn't like they wouldn't have the opportunity to have another adventure, but xander had few enough friends as it was he didn't want to give up any of them.

He leaned back into the cushioned chair and looked out the window at the clouds. It seemed like such a long time ago when he'd been dreading the trip and now he was sad to see the end.

~ Jormungandr ~

Willow was a nervous bundle of energy wrapped tightly around a hairpin trigger as she waited at the gate in the Sunnydale airport for Xander's plane. Her eyes were glued to the little display with the arrival times and gate numbers. Every now and then she would glance out the window to see if she could guess which plane he was on and if it'd even landed yet.

In a moment of inattention while staring at the display she failed to notice a distinctive young man with dark hair walking up behind her. She did however notice the arms that circled around her and clamped over her eyes.

"Guess who?" Xander whispered.

"XANDER!" Willow shrieked pulling his hands away and spinning around to hit him in the chest.

"Oww, willow, right in the ear," Xander said, cupping a hand to the offended ear.

"You mister, are in big trouble," Willow said, poking him in the chest.

"Hey," Xander said.

Willow noticed there was a bit more muscle than she'd expected and blushed red. "You got all muscly and ..." she trailed off the blush deepening.

"Yeah that's what several weeks of taking full advantage of the Colorado outdoors will do, now where's my hug," Xander said.

Willow wrapped her arms around him, Xander's nose twitched and he leaned forward taking a deep breath of her hair.

"Is that strawberry?" Xander asked. "That's a new dress too isn't it?"

Willow just tightened her grip and tucked her head in to hide the blush.

~ Jormungandr ~

 **A/n:** So I realize that this doesn't answer 90% of the questions about what's going on with well a lot, but that's because I never intended to answer a lot of those questions in this particular journey. This is just the pilot so to speak, the origin story for what I hope will be a series of adventures leading up to the start of the buffy series. I'm working this all out and i've got notes and things.

Special thanks to Dogbertcarroll, I must've driven the guy even more nuts with all the questions and requests for him to tell me when I start to go off the deep end, without his input this story wouldn't have happened.

I will not be marking this as complete here. Since I plan on continuing it with additional episodes. This is partly due to FFN not having a nice series feature like another site I could mention c2 communities might be workable but at the moment it's easier to just tack the continuations onto the same story at least for now. I'll reconsider if I need to split at season marks or something.


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